Self-cleaning snagger plate



Nov. 22, 1960 N. H. SWANSON SELF-CLEANING SNAGGER PLATE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 21, 1958 13 FIG TL. L11!) INVEWI'OI? M. H. SWA Also v W Nov. 22, 1960 N. H. SWANSON 2,961,176 SELF-CLEANING SNAGGER PLATE Filed Oct. 21. 1958 2 Shee'ts-Sheet 2 llllllll M/ vz-wroe M H 6 WAN-901V United States Patent SELF-CLEANlN G SNAGGER PLATE Nils H. Swanson, La Grange, Ill., assignor to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Oct. 21, 1958, Ser. No. 768,600

8 Claims. (Cl. 242-25) This invention relates to a self-cleaning snagger plate, or more particularly to a snagger plate having peripherally disposed teeth which are acted upon by centrifugal forces to automatically move to a closed or gripping position when the snagger plate is rotating and which move automatically to an open position when the snagger plate ceases to rotate.

In the continuous winding of wire or other strand material, the wire must be shifted from a full take-up reel to an empty take-up reel without halting the take-up operation. This is generally accomplished by separately rotating a pair of take-up reels in close proximity to one another and guiding the wire from the full reel to the empty reel. Mounted to each reel, and rotated therewith, is generally a snagger plate having gripping means, or teeth, disposed along the periphery thereof which are used to grip the wire as it leaves the full reel and enters the empty reel. The gripping of the wire at each reel is necessary, in that, the wire between the reels is served in order to remove the full reel while the empty reel is being wound, and the wire must therefore be tightly gripped at each reel to prevent the full reel from unwinding and to maintain a pulling force on the wire to be wound on the empty reel. It is desirable, therefore, to provide a snagger plate having peripherally disposed teeth which automatically move to a gripping position when the snagger plate is rotated and which automatically move to a non-gripping or open position when the snagger plate ceases to rotate so the ends of the wire are easily accessible.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a new and improved self-cleaning snagger plate.

Another object of the invention is to provide a snagger plate having peripherally disposed gripping means which automatically move to a closed position when the plate is rotating and automatically move to an open position when the plate ceases to rotate.

Another object of the invention is to provide a snagger plate having peripherally disposed, pivotally and slidably mounted teeth which pivot and slide upon initial rotating movement of the plate to co-act with one another in a gripping position.

A further object of the invention is to provide a snagger plate having peripherally disposed, pivotally and slidably mounted teeth which are spring urged in the direction of rotation of the plate to an open position and which are movable radially and peripherally under centrifugal forces to a gripping position upon initial rotation of the plate.

With these and other objects in view, the present invention contemplates a snagger mountable on a take-up reel or rotatable shaft for rotation therewith. The snagger is provided with peripherally disposed teeth which are pivotally and slidably mounted on a plate. Theupper portion of the teeth project beyond the periphery of the plate and the leading portion of one tooth overlaps the trailing portion of the next successive tooth. Each tooth is connected to a weighted means, which is pivotally mounted to the plate, by means of an eccentric cam and is connected to the plate by means of a slot. The weighted means and slot in each tooth allow radial and peripheral movement of the teeth whereby the teeth are moved between an open and closed position. A spring means is connected to each weighted means to urge the weighted means radially inward to position the teeth in an open position. Once the plate begins to rotate, the force of the spring means is overcome by centrifugal forces which move the weighted means radially outward and thereby, moves the teeth into a gripping position. Therefore, after the snagger has been rotated and has snagged a wire, the wire will be automatically released from the snagger when the plate ceases to rotate, giving the snagger a self-cleaning characteristic.

Other objects, advantages and novel aspects of the invention will become apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. l is a simplified view of a continuous winding apparatus disclosing a pair of snagger plates for facilitating the transfer of wire from a full reel to an empty reel;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation view, partially cut away, of a snagger plate having a plurality of movable teeth embodying the principles of the instant invention;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a snagger plate showing the teeth mounted thereon in a closed or gripping position;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a snagger plate showing the teeth mounted thereon in an open position;

Fig. 5 is a section view taken along line 55 of Fig. 3 showing the mounting of the teeth to the snagger plate; and

Figs. 6 and 7 are sectional views of the teeth on the snagger plate in the gripping and non-gripping positions respectively.

Referring now to Fig. 1 wherein is shown a simplified view of a continuous strand take-up apparatus, it may be seen that a pair of snagger plates 10 are mounted on rotatable shafts 11 or take-up reels 12. In the continuous winding of strand, a strand 13 is guided from strand processing stations (not shown) to a first reel 12 and a reciprocating 'guide 14 moves the strand back and forth across the reel until the reel becomes full as exemplified by the reel 12 in Fig. 1. At this point the guide 14 moves from the reel 12 to the empty reel 15 thereby moving the strand over the ends of the two reels where the strand is gripped by the snagger plates 10. Positioned between the two reels I2 and 15 is a knife or other type of severing device which cuts the strand. Then as the reel 15 continues to rotate, the full reel 12 may be stopped, removed from the shaft 11, and replaced with an empty reel for the next switchover operation between reels. It may be understood therefore that the snagger plates 10 must be capable of securely gripping the wire to prevent the ends of the wire from escaping from the snagger plate after the severing operation. It is also desirable to provide a snagger plate which will automatically release the wire upon cessation of rotating movement of the snagger plate.

A snagger plate 10 having the desirable characteristics of automatically moving to a closed position upon rotation of the snagger plate to firmly grip a wire snagged thereby and of automatically releasing the wire upon cessation of rotating movement of the snagger plate is shown in Fig. 2. The snagger plate 10 comprises of a pair of spaced plates 21 and 22 having apertures 23 formed in the centers thereof for mounting the plates to a rotatable shaft. The plates 21 and 22 are mounted together by means of projecting studs 24 and 26 having screws 27 seated therein. Rotatably mounted to each stud 24 is an eccentric cam 28 and rotatably mounted to each stud 26 is a roller 29. A plurality-of strand gripping means or teeth 31 are positioned between the two plates 21 and 22 around the periphery thereof-in abut-ting relationship such that the forward portion of each tooth abuts the' rear portion ofthe next successive tooth; Teeth 31- are mounted between the plates by means of the eccentric cams 28 and the rollers 29. Thefo'rwa'rd portion of each tooth is provided with an aperture 32 which rotatably supports the eccentric cam 28 therein. The rear portion of each tooth 31 is provided with a slot 33 extending chordally to the periphery of the plates 21 and 22- and which is slidao'ly mounted-on-the rollers 29.

Each eccentric cam 28 is fixedly mounted to a weight 34 which in turn is pivotally mounted to the stud 24; The weights 34 are urged inwardly towards the centerof the plates by means of a garter spring 36 which i's connected to each weight 34 by a clip 37 surrounding the spring 36 and pivotally mounted tothe weight 34 by means of pin 38. V

The outer portion of each tooth 31- projects beyond the peripheral edge of each of the plates 21 and-22 and is provided with an extension 39 projecting in the direction of rotation of the plates and overlapping the next successive tooth. Each of the extensions 39 is provided with a V-shaped groove 41' which is complementary to a V-shaped raised portion or projection 42 on the outer surface of each tooth 31.

When the plates 21 and 22 are stationary, the'weights 34 are pivoted inwardly towards the center of the plates by means of the spring 36 thereby positioning the high portions of the eccentric cams 28 in the directionof. rotation of the plates which move the teeth 31 in the direction of rotation of the plates and radially outward from the center of the plates. The rear portion of each tooth 31 is likewise moved in a direction of rotation of the plates and is moved radially inward towards the center of the plates because of the chordal direction of the slots 33. It may therefore be understood that the teeth are in an open or non-gripping position as the rear portion of each tooth has been moved inwardly and the extension of each tooth has been moved outwardly to separate the V-shaped projection 42 from the V-shaped slot 41.

Upon rotation of the plates 21 and 22, centrifugal forces act upon the weights 34 to overcome the force of the spring 36 to pivot the weights outwardly from the center of the plates, thereby moving the high portion of the eccentric cams 28 inwardly towards the center of the plates. The rotation of the eccentric cams causes the teeth 31 to move in a direction oppositeto the direction of rotation of the plates and move the forward portion of each tooth 31 inwardly towards the center of the plates. The rear portion of each tooth 31, 'on the other hand, while being moved in the direction opposite to the rotation of the plates, is moved outwardly from the center of the plates by the chordally extending slot 33 to force the outwardly moving projection 42 within the slot 41 of the inwardly moving extension 39 of the next succeeding tooth. In Fig. 3 it may be seen that the teeth have thereby moved to a closed or gripping position.

The plate 21 is provided with a' rim flange 43 extending around the periphery of the plate which maybe used to mount the snagger plate onto a rim of a take-up reel as shown in Fig. 5. When the take-up reel becomes full, the strand will be guided from the reel, over the snagger 10 and will be tightly gripped between the V-shaped, projection 42 and the V-shaped slot 41 in the extension 39 and securely held until the plates 21 and 22 stop rotating. As the plates 21 and 22 stop rotating, the spring 36 once again moves the weights 34 inwardly towards the center of the plates and the cams 28' and rollers 29 cause the teeth 31 to again resume the open or non-gripping position so that the strand gripped by the teeth is easily removed from the snagger plate.

It is to be understood that the above-described arrangements are simply illustrative of the application of the principles of this invention. Numerous other arrangements may be readily devised by those skilled in the art which will embody the principles of the invention and fall within the spirit and scope thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. A snagger plate for continuous strand take-up which comprises, a rotatable plate, strand gripping teeth slidably and pivotally mounted to said plate around the periphery thereof, said teeth having an, upperportion projecting beyond the periphery of the plate, an extension projecting from said upper portion and overlapping the next successive tooth, means movable to an operative position by the rotation of the plate for sliding the teeth opposite to the direction of rotation of the plate and pivoting the extensions of each tooth radially inward, means for sliding the rear portion of each tooth radially outward upon the sliding of the teeth opposite to the direction of rotation, means for rotating said plate, and means for urging the first means to an inoperative position.

2. A snagger plate for continuous strand take-up which comprises a' rotatable plate, weighted means mounted to said plate and movable radially outward upon rotation of the plate, strand gripping means mounted to the weighted means and movable both radially and peripherally to a gripping position upon the radially outward movement of said weighted means, means for rotating said plate, and means rendered effective by the cessation of rotation of the plate for moving the weighted means radially inward whereby said gripping means is moved to a non-gripping position.

3. A snagger plate for continuous strand take-up which comprises, a rotatable plate, weighted means pivotally mounted to said plate and movable radially outward by rotation of the plate, strand gripping means having a forward portion and a rear portion, the forward portion thereof being mounted to said weighted means for moving the gripping means peripherally opposite to the direction of rotation of the plate and the forward portion radially inward upon the radially outward movement of the weighted means, said gripping means having the rear portion thereof mounted to the plate for moving the rear portion radially outward upon movement of the gripping means opposite to the direction of rotation of the plate, means for rotating said plate, and means urging the weighted means radially inward.

4. A snagger plate for continuous strand take-up which comprises, a rotatable plate, weighted means ate tached to said plate and movable radially outward upon rotation of the plate, strand gripping teeth positioned around the periphery of said plate in abutting relationship, said teeth having the upper portion thereof projecting beyond the periphery of the plate and having a raised portion thereon, an extension projecting from said upper portion and overlapping the next successive tooth, said extensions having a groove in the inner surface thereof complementary to said raised portions, means mounting said teeth on the weighted means for peripherl movement to a gripping position upon the radially outward move- .ment' of said weighted means, means for rotating. said plate, and means rendered effective by the cessation of rotating of the plate for moving the weighted means radially inward whereby said gripping means is moved to a non-gripping position.

5. A snagger plate for continuous strand take-up which comprises, a rotatable plate, weighted means pivotally mounted on said plate and movable. radially outward by rotation of the plate, strand gripping teeth positioned around the periphery of said plate. in abutting rerelationship, said teeth having the upper portion thereof projecting beyond the periphery of the. plate andhaving a raised portion thereon, an .extensionprojecting from said upper portion and overlapping the, next successive tooth, said extensions having a groove in the innner surface thereof complementary to said raised portions, means mounting the forward portions of the teeth on the weighted means for moving the teeth opposite to the direction of rotation of the plate and the forward portion radially inward upon the radially outward movement of the weighted means, means for mounting the rear portion of each tooth for movement radially outward upon movement of the teeth opposite to the direction of rotation of the plate, means for rotating said plate, and means urging the weighted means radially inward.

6. In a snagger plate for continuous strand take-up, a rotatable plate, means for rotating said plate, weighted means pivotally mounted on said plate and movable radially outward upon rotation of said plate, means for urging said weighted means radially inward, strand gripping means having an aperture therein, and an eccentric cam mounted on said weighted means for movement therewith and positioned within the aperture for moving the gripping means into a gripping position upon the radial outward movement of the weighted means and for moving the gripping means to a non-gripping position upon the radial inward movement of the weighted means.

7. In a snagger plate for continuous strand take-up, a rotatable plate, means for rotating said plate, strand gripping means disposed around the periphery of the plate and movable between gripping and non-gripping positions, said gripping means having an aperture in the forward portion and a slot in the rear portion thereof, weighted means pivotally mounted on said plate and movable radial- 1y outward by the rotation of the plate, an eccentric cam mounted on said weighted means for movement therewith and extending through the aperture for sliding the gripping means peripherally and the forward portion radially upon radial outward movement of the weighted means, means mounted on said plate and extending through the slot for moving the rear portion of the gripping means radially upon the peripheral movement thereof, and means for urging the weighted means radially inward.

8. In a snagger plate for continuous strand take-up, a pair of rotatable plates mounted in spaced relationship by first and second connecting studs, means for rotating said plates, strand gripping teeth disposed around the periphery of said plate and positioned therebetween with the upper portions extending beyond the periphery of the plates, an extension on the forward portion of each tooth projecting in the direction of rotation of the plates and overlapping the next successive tooth, each of said teeth having an aperture in the forward portion thereof and a slot in the rear portion thereof, weighted means pivotally mounted on the first connecting studs and movable radially outward by the rotation of said plate, an eccentric cam mounted to each weighted means and positioned within the apertures for moving the teeth opposite to the direction of rotation of the plates and the forward portion radially inward upon the radial outward movement of the weighted means, rollers rotatably mounted on the second connecting studs and positioned within the slots for guiding the rear portions of the teeth radially outward upon movement of the teeth opposite to the direction of rotation of the plates whereby each extension engages the upper rear portion of the next successive tooth, and means for urging the weighted means radially inward.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

